


Tea for One

by space_squirrel



Series: Warrior Daughter [4]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Drabble, Falling In Love, Flirting, Gen, Love, Tea, late night conversation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-17
Updated: 2017-02-17
Packaged: 2018-09-25 01:54:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9797303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/space_squirrel/pseuds/space_squirrel
Summary: Sophie Shepard catches Kaidan in the mess very late at night.VERY loosely written for the MEFFW Drabble prompt "love".





	

It was well past the start of the night cycle on the Normandy, and most of the crew was long asleep.

Kaidan, however, is not afforded the luxury of being counted among 'most the crew' tonight. He was sitting in the mess, the tendrils of a headache whispering at the edge of his vision, not severe enough to wake Chakwas, yet just enough to keep him up at this ungodly hour.

The soft _woosh_ of a door opening catches Kaidan's attention, and he glances up, bleary eyes straining as he focuses them on the approaching figure.

His breath hitches in his throat as he realizes it's Shepard, barefoot and clad in a thin tank top and shorts so short they should be illegal. Her blonde hair, usually in a tight regulation bun, is a mess of waves cascading down her back, framing her face and somehow illuminating the smattering of freckles across her nose.

He rakes his eyes appreciatively over her body, realizing a moment too late she is looking right back at him, a smirk creeping across her face as their eyes meet.

"Like what you see, Lieutenant?" She purrs, tilting her head to the side and flashing him a brilliant smile.

Blushing furiously, he mumbles something incoherent ending with a hasty "uh, ma'am", before dropping his eyes back to the mug in front of him, wishing the ground would open up and swallow him whole.

Shepard's laughter floats across the table as she makes her way over, setting the mug she is carrying on the table before dropping into the seat across from him with a soft thud.

"Relax, Alenko. I didn't expect to see anyone awake this late, or I'd have at least tossed on pants." She peers at him curiously, tilting her head. "Can't sleep either, huh?"

"Headache," he mumbles, not daring to raise his eyes lest he make a further fool of himself. He clears his throat. "Uh, the start of one, at least. It makes sleeping a little tricky, but it's not bad enough I want to take anything just yet, so I thought a cup of tea might help."

Shepard leans forward, reaching across the table to pluck the mug from his hands, glancing at the label attached to the tea bag. "This isn't caffeinated, is it?"

He chuckles as she sniffs at the mug, wrinkling her nose and passing it back with a frown.

"No, definitely not. It's chamomile, which is actually supposed to help with sleep, though I can't say it's doing a very good job at that right now."

"I guess not," she replies slowly, "but why anyone would drink that stuff, let alone the non-caffeinated kind, is beyond me. It's like drinking dirty water. At least you're getting something out of it if it's caffeinated."  
  
"Maybe you just haven't had someone make a cup for you properly, Commander. I'll admit this Alliance requisition stuff isn't great, but trust me when I tell you a good tea is a far cry from _dirty water."_

Shepard snorts, shaking her head. "First off, Alenko, when we're off duty like this, you can cut it with the 'commander' crap." She pauses, grinning widely. " _Especially_ when I'm in my fucking pyjamas. And secondly, it will be a cold day in hell before you find me a cup of tea that doesn't taste like swamp water."

Leaning forward, Kaidan finally looks her in the eye before replying.  
  
"Challenge accepted."

Shepard arches her eyebrow, leaning towards him and matching his steady gaze.

"You'll regret that," she shoots back. "And _when_ you lose this bet, you're going to take my next three mess clean-up shifts."

"When I _win_ , Shepard," he begins, her name rolling off his tongue easier than he imagined it would, "You're going to let me drive the Mako for a week's worth of ground missions."

She considers this for a moment, before sticking her hand out. "Deal."

They shake on it, and Shepard moves to stand with a yawn, stretching her arms above her head. Her tank top rides up as she twists her body from one side to the other, slightly exposing the smooth skin of her stomach.

Kaidan's mouth goes dry, and can't help but stare, his eyes focusing on the tiny bit of ink poking out. Shepard has a lot of tattoos - many visible, so this isn't exactly surprising - but this particular one is full of delicate shading, while the majority of them are composed of intricate and thin black lines.

Absently, he wonders what the tattoo is of, how many shades there are, how far up her body it goes, what it would be like to trace the lines with his fingers, his tongue; how many other lovers had done just that--

Tearing his eyes away, he blushes again as she finishes her stretch, mentally chastising himself for thinking about his CO that way. _Totally inappropriate, Kaidan._

"Thanks for the chat," she says, placing her own mug in the sink and heading towards her quarters.

She pauses, looking over her shoulder with a smirk.

"It's an octopus," she says suddenly, and Kaidan groans inwardly as he realizes she had caught him staring for a second time that night. "Goodnight, lieutenant."

With that, she disappears through the doors of her cabin, and Kaidan exhales a breath he didn't realize he had been holding.

He had worked under pretty CO's before, sure, but this time was different. There was something about Sophie Shepard that had caught his attention, for whatever reason, in a totally inappropriate way.

He was falling for her, he realizes with a sudden wave of panic.

Rubbing his neck in discomfort over his realization, he slides his chair back and stands, discarding his mug before heading towards his sleeper pod.

At this point, Kaidan was certain of two things.

One, that as far as Shepard was concerned, he was in a lot of trouble... and two, with the way his mind was now racing, there was no way he'd be sleeping anytime soon.


End file.
